Hingham Veterans Service Officer Receives Hero's Welcome During Return from Deployment in Africa

Nearly 380 days ago, Hingham Veterans Service Officer and Chief Petty Officer Keith Jermyn left Town Hall for the last time before he was deployed to Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa with the 27th Battalion, U.S. Navy Seabees. In his first day back home, friends; family; residents; and supporters gave Jermyn a hero’s welcome as he pulled into his place of work to celebrate his homecoming.

“It’s overwhelming to feel the outpouring of support my town gives,” the lifelong resident said. “It’s a privilege for me to serve my town, state, and country so for them to do this is remarkable.”

As part of his return to Hingham, Jermyn received a police escort from exit 15 of Route 3 on Derby Street to his home, with a stop at Town Hall. The detail is a token of appreciation usually organized by Jermyn for returning servicemen and women. As the motorcade made its way to Town Hall, several residents lined the streets to show their support. According to Jermyn, police sent out a reverse 911 call to homes, asking Hingham to welcome their veterans agent back.

The deployment was the sixth for Jermyn. While in Africa as part of the U.S. Navy, he helped African countries and multi-national partners fight piracy and insurgencies on the continent.

According to Jermyn’s wife Lisa, she was not informed of Keith’s return until 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

“I had tears in my eye. Everyone has been keeping tabs on us the whole time, they’ve been like a second family,” she said.

Keith also thanked the community for stepping up and helping his family during his deployment. While away, many around Hingham assisted the family in several ways including shoving snow, picking up his son for baseball practice, or in the case of the Hingham Police Department, stopping by during an extra patrol to make sure the family was ok.

“You don’t get that in a big city, they would ring the bell and ask if they’re alright. If I know that’s going on then I can focus on what I need to do,” he said.

Jermyn has 90 days to return to his job at Town Hall, a time period he intends to use to spend time and reconnect with his family.